Minnesota Vs North Dakota State Preview (Friday 11-22)

 

The #12 Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the unranked North Dakota State Bison this Friday.  While the dual itself is out of reach for the Green & Yellow, opportunity still presents itself for the Bison to walk away from this matchup with some big victories. Some very big victories actually.  Let's take a look. 

#14 Cooper Flynn Vs U.R. Tristan Daughtery
125

While it is Cooper Flynn who has the #14 ranking Vs an Unranked Tristan Daughtery, it is Daughther who owns a 2-1 decision against Flynn. If Daughtery can pull off another win, what a huge upset that would be for the Bison as they host the Gophers. Easier said than done to beat someone of Flynn's caliber two times in a row. 

#8 Tyler Wells Vs U.R. Kyle Burwick
133

The journey has been pretty smooth sailing for Tyler Wells. The sophomore put together a pretty impressive season last year & nearly made All American honors in his first attempt in the nation's toughest collegiate tournament.  The road has been far more bumpy for Kyle Burwick, who has struggled as of late with an up & down showing.  With the facts in front of us, it should be noted that just last year, Burwick gave Wells a very hard fought 6-3 s.v. match.   Talk about bringing the Fargo crowd to their feet.  This is a within reach mission for Burwick.  Think about what it'd do for his confidence going forward. 

#5 Vance VomBaur Vs U.R. Kellyn March
141

Personally, I find it kind of insulting that NCAA DI rankings go all the way to #33, and somewhere within those rankings, they can't find room to put Kellyn March?  I have to remind myself that health/injuries kept him out of the game last season & so far this season, it looks like health/injuries might still be giving him fits.  With that noted, let me remind everyone else that we're talking about a Southern Scuffle champ here. This guy knows how to win big matches and by the end of '24-'25, he'll be a lot higher than "U.R.", I'll confidently guarantee that.   Now how does he fare against returning All American #5 Vance VomBaur?  I say that heavily depends on where his health is Friday.   Even if he is 100%, beating VomBaur is an extremely difficult task.  VomBaur himself made tremendous improvements between '22-'23 & '23-'24, so it's only natural to believe he's made more in '24-'25.  

If March is 100% (and that's a very big if) then we're looking at a good match between two good wrestlers.  If March isn't 100% (which I fear may be the case) then we're looking at a for sure victory for the Golden Gopher.  The thing is, March can defeat VomBaur, BUT he's going to have to be 100%.  Anything less, won't get the job done.  99.99% ain't gonna cut it. 

#23 Drew Roberts Vs U.R. Max Petersen Or #32 Gavin Drexler
149

Either way, I think the Bison have an opportunity to pull off an upset in this match. If it's U.R. Max Peterson, he's already defeated #23 Drew Roberts 10-8 & the other match they had, he took Petersen into the tiebreakers before ultimately losing 2-1.  I'd say Drexler is probably in a similar situation.  Either way, it's going to be a hard fought match for the victor, be it Golden Gopher or Bison.